Who Will Police The UP Police?

Disclaimer: This series of events is based on the author’s personal account of the Press Conference.

A press conference was organised on 22nd Jan 2020, by students representing 30 central, state and private universities who went on a fact-finding mission in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

At the entrance of the Press Club. Picture courtesy – Gul

This mission was necessitated to inquire about a large number of deaths, as a result of police firing, and various reports of large scale excesses, committed by UP police, after the various protests against the CAA and NRC.

Uttar Pradesh once called as the “Heart and Soul of India” has now become the “Killing field of India” said panellist, Miss Pamela. These students had the courage to visit the place and do such great work, which no media persons with all their powers could do.

After a brief display of video clips that consisted of testimonies, various instances of police cruelty and reports of victims, students came one by one and gave their detailed accounts of events.

Tripti Bhardwaj told us about a boy named Zahir in Meerut, who was shot in the head when he was far from the area of protest. She is of the view, as informed by the local people of UP and after herself examining the bullet marks on the walls, that police mostly aimed at the protestors above the waist.

Their team talked to a Hindu tea seller, who said that the people who were injured or killed were either involved in a gang war between Muslim communities or were injured/killed by protesters themselves; which are the false narratives that are being spread, giving rise to polarisation.

The main hall of the press club that gave a platform to voices of the daring students.

Ananya took over next; she let us know that a ruling minister of BJP, Sanjeev Balyan along with his supporters, was seen inciting violence during a peaceful protest in Muzaffarnagar. She further added that on the night of 15th Dec, the police didn’t seem to curb the protestors or disperse them, during the protests going on in AMU at that time, but unnecessarily used stun grenades, and guns to harm and terrify the students.

A very bright student, pursuing PhD in the same college, nowhere close to the protests, got severely injured by a stun grenade (among many others) losing 4 of his fingers. This was the extent of the trauma people experienced.

A from that moment during the press conference.

Azhar described the state of Firozabad and Nagina. A Boy named Salman recalled a cop sitting in a position and aiming at him in a bazaar, out of nowhere, and shooting him in the waist; he was later rescued.

Amir, a 2nd-year student at DAV College, was shot by police in the shoulder, and after his recovery, he was denied medical reports, including X-Ray reports. Moreover, the police termed it as a normal wound, caused during protests, and not a bullet wound.

One of the students claims to have been informed by local people, about the police asking for help from outside – Bajrang Dal people, and others, with covered faces, appeared, and they threw stones at local people, (holding placards and peacefully protesting) and a fire broke out.

Another example is of Mohmmad Rahees, who was coming from work and got shot out, of nowhere. He was denied treatment and died. He is among the many dead who could have been saved.

Now, in my opinion, any layman can track the common pattern here.

Panellists were of the view, that police, in the name of stopping and curbing the protestors, went to the Muslim colonies, and fired at innocent people, who had no connection with the protests. They tortured them so much, that many of them aren’t coming up with their injuries, caused by police firing, in fear of being sent a Kurki notice, blaming their families for property damage, and other undue allegations.

Akash Pandey told us about the Hindustani Journalist, Manoj Yadav, in Yatim Khana, who was asked to remove his camera, when the police were being brutal with the common people, in order to ‘facilitate the process with peace’.

Dainik Jagran, from Meerut, put up pictures of people termed as hooligans
by media, without any basis, along with their addresses, as if they were terrorists or wanted, clearly instigating everybody to harm them freely and openly.

This was another easily traceable pattern, where media was inexplicably supporting the UP police and their deeds, and trying to cover all their tracks, by declaring all the victims of protests in question as hooligans.

There was an IAS Officer among the panellists, who very precisely and briefly brought up the point of the real justification for such acts.

He noticed a common pattern; that in spite of peaceful protests, violence and fatalities happened in only these 2 states – Karnataka (2 killed) and UP (23 killed). He said, on 19th December, section 144 had been imposed, and the Chief Minister took to social media and said: “We’ll take revenge”. Coincidentally, most fatalities and deaths occurred on 20th Dec and the rampage started thereafter.